THE MISSION

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: tribal nudity, violence, thematic elements

Rated:

The European conquest of the Americas decimated many tribes and brought the glorious Aztec Empire to a crashing fall. Most of the time the European conquerors used the Christian faith mainly to put the natives under subjection rather than use it for winning souls for Christ. There were a few who spoke out against this abuse, such as the Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas, who objected to the colonization of the Indians. And the Jesuits.

It is the 18th century and Jesuit priest Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) is assigned to build a mission to convert the local Guaraní Indians to the Christian faith. Unlike the previous priests who tried to force their faith on the natives, the Guaranis came to Father Gabriel at their own free will and thus, he won several souls for Christ. In the beginning of Father Gabriel's mission, he has a run in with a heartless slave trader, Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), who is determined to capture some of Father Gabriel's flock for enslavement. Back at a nearby mission, Mendoza finds that his brother married his sweetheart behind his back and ends up killing him for it. He is sent to Father Gabriel's mission to pay his penance by carrying around a mesh net full of metal armor. The experience humbled Mendoza and soon he becomes a Jesuit priest, committed to pacifism and Christ. The two priests as well as a few others including Father Fielding (Liam Neeson) are soon well liked by the Guaraní and participate in building a church as well as a community where they could live in peace and harmony. 

All is not well when the Portuguese authorities and the cardinal of Spain, Altamirano, find out about the peaceful community of Guaranis living in South America. Immediately, Father Gabriel and Father Mendoza are called to talk about their mission and their people. They brought a young, Guaraní boy with them in order to demonstrate his singing ability. One of the pro-slavery Portuguese officials refers to the young boy as an "animal" and that the community of Guaraní must be subjected to slavery since Portugal was going to take over the small Spanish communities of missions in South America. To see for himself how the missions were constructed, Cardinal Altamirano decides to travel to South America. After his arrival, the cardinal is pleased with what he sees but has the unfortunate task of asking Father Gabriel and his flock to re-locate back to the jungle where the Guaraní originally came from in order to be on Portuguese territory. The Guaraní as well as the Jesuits are shocked and simply refuse to pick up and move their community. Even one Indian girl expresses her dismay about going back to the jungle, saying, "the devil lives there." When the Portuguese come to the area with a small army, Father Mendoza suggests that they must take up arms to defend the mission, but Father Gabriel objects, saying that it is against the Jesuit order to resort to violence. Nonetheless, Mendoza helps to prepare the Guaranis for battle by organizing a plan of action, knowing that the Portuguese troops would have a hard time carrying their canons through the dense rainforest. When the Portuguese come for the natives, Mendoza and his "troops" are ready to fight.

Although The Mission is rated PG, the content would give it a PG13 today. The movie has no profanity. There's only one brief scene of sensuality between Felipe Mendoza (Aidan Quinn) and his wife (it isn't graphic and we only see their shoulders). There is a moderate amount of nudity in the film but it isn't sexual. The Guaraní Indians wear hardly anything and the children are usually naked. The women are seen topless occasionally, wearing grass skirts. The men are seen wearing loincloths. Some of them have covered up by wearing tunics. Indians are seen skinny-dipping in one scene; most of them are children. Violence is moderate. Men are shot at constantly in battle. One is stabbed to death with a sword, while arrows used by the Guaraní hit the other men. A priest is shot to death while performing Mass. Portuguese troops set fire to one of the mission communities, burning it to the ground. Young infants are taken from their mothers and disposed of. A priest is tied to a wooden cross by angry natives and tossed into raging rapids and plummets from a waterfall to his death. A group of Indians lead a few Portuguese soldiers down a waterfall in an act of suicide.

Surprisingly, this movie has a strong Christian message. The word of God cannot be spread by force but peacefully by love. The intent of Father Gabriel's mission wasn't created for the interest of the Spanish crown but for the interest of the natives and they willingly came to Christ out of their own free will; they weren't forced by the Jesuits to convert. When Roderigo Mendoza was in jail for killing his brother, Gabriel tells him that he can find peace and salvation in Christ.

Mendoza: For me, there is no redemption, no penance great enough.
Gabriel: There is. But do you dare try it?
Mendoza: Do you dare to see it fail?

Here, Mendoza turns from his past sins of murder and slave trade to a man of God that now loves the people who he tried to enslave. He even goes on to read parts of the Bible that speak about leaving a sinful life. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.  But when I became a man, I put away childish things.." When the cardinal came to the Jesuit missions in South America, he was impressed but had to get them to leave the community, something he didn't want to do but had to because the Pope pressured him. Later on, he felt that it was his fault for not trying to intervene on behalf of the Guaraní. I enjoyed this film. It had historical value as well as a good message. But it wasn't exactly historically accurate since the Indians that were in the motion picture weren't Guaraní but a different tribe that spoke a different language. Historically speaking, the Jesuits weren't as kind as Gabriel and Mendoza and were just as pushy as their Dominican and Franciscan counterparts. In fact, they struggled with the Portuguese government and other religious orders over their "monopoly" of missions in South America. Still, it's a good film to rent that has a strong, Christian message. The verse John 1:5 is quoted in the closing credits: "And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it."

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